Windows

Installing Git on Windows systems is very easy. After opening the link (https://git-scm.com/download/win), the download should automatically begin, and you will arrive at the confirmation page shown in Figure 2-2. If not, just download the build that corresponds to your Windows flavor.

Execute the download exe file to begin the installation. The first screen is the license declaration outlining the terms and conditions; you should read it until the end (yeah, right). Click next, and you will get to a component selection screen similar to the one shown in Figure 2-3. Here, you are prompted to select which components to install. I recommend to leave the default options on.

You can see in Figure 2-3 that you just have to check the components to install them. It is a good idea to leave the Windows Explorer integration checked; that way you would just have to right-click a folder to find the options to start Git in the default GUI or the Bash (command window) in the context menu. All the other components are pretty self-explanatory so the decision is up to you.

Click next after you made your choices, and you will see the default editor selection, shown in Figure 2-4. Git needs you to define a default editor because you need an editor to write out commit descriptions and comments.

As you can see in Figure 2-4, Vim is the default editor for Git for historical reason. Just pick your favorite text editor from the dropdown list. The first two, Nano and Vim, work in the console or command window, so you don’t have to open another program. In the list, you can find many popular editors like Notepad++, Sublime Text, Atom and Visual Studio (VS) Code. If your editor isn’t listed, you can choose the last option, and a new input will appear (shown in Figure 2-5) so you can provide a link to the editor’s main executable file.

In Figure 2-5, you can see the screen where you can set up your custom editor if it isn’t listed on the dropdown.

For this book, I decided to leave the default option and use Vim. It doesn’t change anything in this book if you decide to use any other editor. But if you want to learn Vim (takes a bit of time), you can check out “vimtutor,” which is a tutor program shipped with Vim, or learn through a fun video game on https://vim-adventures.com/. There is also www.vi-improved.org/vimusermanual.pdf which is more complete but is more than 300 pages!

And don’t worry, this choice is not definitive, you can still change anytime you want. You will learn how at the last section of this chapter.

Once you chose your favorite editor, you can go to the next screen, which is the PATH environment adjustment, shown in Figure 2-6. The PATH environment is a variable that holds a list of directories where executable programs are located in their value. It’s needed so you don’t have to type in the full path to an executable when you want to execute it in the console; you just have to type its name. For example, to launch Visual Studio Code from the console, I should type C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft VS Codeincode. But since I have C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft VS Codein in my PATH, I just have to type “code” to launch it.

The same could apply to Git if you want. If you don’t want this and only want to use Git with its own isolated console “Git Bash,” select the first option. So, to use Git, you would have to launch it from the Apps list or from the context menu of a folder (if you chose to install the Windows Explorer integration).

If you want to be able to use Git everywhere, leave the default option to add it to your PATH environment. That way, other tools can also use Git and you can work from any command window. I highly suggest this option.

The last option is a bit invasive. It will add many Git commands to your PATH and will overwrite some of Windows’ default tools. Only choose this if you have a valid reason too; generally, you don’t have such a reason.

Choose an option as shown in Figure 2-6 and proceed to the next step. You will arrive at a screen concerning HTTPS connections, shown in Figure 2-7. You will have to choose which library to use when sending data over HTTPS. Later in this book, you will have to connect to a remote server (since Git is a distributed VCS) to share your commits to other people, so all those connections must be encrypted to further secure your data and ensure they are not being stolen.

Just use the default option unless you have a reason to (company policy or your own little security setup).

After this, go to the next step which is about line endings. Once again, it’s a selection screen, so yours should look like the one shown in Figure 2-8. Different Operating Systems operate text files differently, especially when dealing with line endings. And odds are that the team you will be working with will be using different OS. So, Git needs to convert line endings to and from each ending style before sharing commits.

As you will be using Windows, you should check the default option. The other two options will do a lot of damage to your commits if you are not careful with line endings. You can go to next step after choosing the default option.

The next step is to choose a default terminal (or console) emulator. It’s a simple selection screen like before, shown in Figure 2-9. Git Bash needs a console emulator to work, so you need to choose one. The default emulator is MinTTY, the other option being Windows’ default console.

I suggest keeping the default option because MinTTY can do everything that the Windows console window can, but better in every way. Click next to proceed to the last step.

We are now in the endgame! This installation is nearly over. Just a few things to tweak in the extra options screen. This screen (shown in Figure 2-10) permits you to enable some extra features that will go great with your Git installation. For example, the Git Credential Manager will help you connect to remote servers securely and plays nicely with other Git tools.

Just leave the default options unless you have a reason not to. After that, just launch the installation and let it finish. And that’s it! Git is installed on your Windows system. But before using it, jump to the next section to properly set it up!

Mac

It should give you the version of Git currently installed or if it’s not installed prompt you to install XCode’s Command Line Tools. If you choose install on that prompt, Git will be installed and you can skip the rest of this section.

To install Git on your Mac, you just have to go to the download link https://git-scm.com/download/mac, and the download should begin automatically, as shown in Figure 2-11. Execute the downloaded file and the installation will start; it’s pretty easy.

This will install about half the universe, but it will eventually stop, and Git will be installed.

And that’s it! For Mac OS X, installing Git is way easier and you probably already have it.

Linux

If you use Linux regularly, you probably know much about your distribution than me. So, installing Git with your package manager might be a piece of cake for you.

If you have a different distribution, you can check https://git-scm.com/download/linux to have a list of commands on how to install Git for each popular distro. This list should be similar to the one shown in Figure 2-12, with more and more Linux flavors to come.

After you use the command corresponding to your distribution listed in Figure 2-12, Git is installed!